lovers in japan
by plasmacandy
Summary: The love story that never was. —Shun x Runo, AU


**Lovers in Japan**

**&nevermore**

He thinks of her on Sunday evenings and rainy Mondays, and writes poetry on windows.

_Her eyes are the green color of bottled-up-envy, dewdrops and chipped ice. They are like jewels, glittering with some imprisoned spell. She is too beautiful. She is deadly._

He thinks of her on Sunday evenings and rainy Mondays, sitting in the gray confines of a swaying train, his heartbeat accelerating with each lurch of the car. He stumbles into the station and _crosses the yellow line, _and tries to get his act together, and checks the digital memo on his pager:

_Three o' clock, Misaki Runo; pick up dinner for Alice._

He checks his watch and curses, pushing through the throngs of people in a desperate one-man race downtown.

She waits outside the restaurant, still and statuesque and _those eyes _…no. She is dressed in sunny yellow, hair pulled back and smile expectant. He waltzes toward her in the most dangerous way, sidestepping puddles and swinging briefcases.

"Shun-san!" She says happily. Her voice is radiant. Her skin, exotically pale, is flushed a bit from the cold. She smells like citrus and chemicals.

"Hello," he replies politely.

"How is life treating you?" She asks, taking his hand and pulling him into through the door of the quaint building. He tenses at the feel of her small hand encircling his, and lets his fingers curl around her own, subtly.

"Fine. How are things with you and Dan?" His voice cracks a bit and he coughs to mask his awkwardness.

"That blockhead? He misses you, Shun-san. I miss you too."

They both fall quiet, his heart pounding in his ears. She leads him through a mess of tables, unorganized in just the right way. He watches her. Her back is towards him.

"Are you and Alice doing well?"

"Yes." They are. Their second anniversary is approaching, in fact. He should ask what to get her.

"You've been married for almost three years, eh? Whatcha gonna do for the big day? Take her back home?"

"Home?"

"Your home. My home." He feels his chest constrict painfully.

"I want to return home someday. Do you? I feel like Japan is a part of me. I wonder if it's like that for others. Dan doesn't seem to miss it, though…" Her hand falls limp in his, and her face is overcast with sadness.

"I miss it too. Painfully, sometimes."

"Ah-ah, I forgot. It's probably hard for you. What am I saying, I'm just a regular girl, but you…I'm sorry, I'm insensitive."

She disentangles her hand from his hold and slips behind the counter. He sits down on one of the bright red chairs. "I'll make you tea while you wait on that idiot husband of mine," she grumbles. "I swear, that man is always late. The fool."

"But you love him."

She pauses in surprise. "I…Yes. I wonder why sometimes."

They say nothing for a long while.

"You've changed very much, Runo."

"Well…I can't stay mad at the world forever! One is only a teenager for a little while." She laughs, and says no more.

He blinks, at a loss for words.

* * *

Alice kisses him when he walks through the front door. It's nothing chaste brushing of lips, but her cheeks are pink when she leans away. "Darling," she says sweetly, "How was work?"

"Fine," He says curtly. "I got you dinner," he adds, pushing the takeout bag into her arms before making his way towards the stairs.

"You're going to bed already? Are you feeling unwell?" Her expression is overcome with worry. He turns away.

"Yes. I'll see you in the morning."

She watches him for the few fleeting moments before he disappears.

* * *

He lies awake for what feels like an eternity.

How different would it be, he wonders, if it were Runo that he kissed everyday when he got home from work? How different would she feel in his arms? How different would it be, if he could take that small hand in his own whenever he wanted?

How different would it be if the both of them hadn't fallen in love with the people that they were supposed to?

Shun closes his eyes and waits until the sun rises. Across the waters, a land of unfulfilled possibilities calls to him.

He wonders if Runo can hear it.


End file.
